Planning is a process for accomplishing specific goals. Goals and types of plans may vary depending on the planners and the people trying to accomplish the goals. Plans may vary from a simple recipe to a complex business scheme. A plan may be viewed as a blueprint for personal or organizational growth and a road map for such development. A plan helps in defining objectives both in quantitative and qualitative terms, accounting for available resources, and other factors.
Just as no two people or organizations are alike, their plans are also not alike. It is, therefore, important to prepare a plan that keeps in mind the necessities of the person or enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of a human life or business. One may view the entire life of a person or a lifecycle of an organization as multiple plans executed over a time period. Plans may be repeated many times (e.g., cooking according to the same recipe) or overlap with other plans (e.g., losing weight while, at the same time, looking for a new house) and may affect or conflict with each other.
Some plans are carefully prepared, for example, after conducting extensive research and analysis. Others plans are improvised. While careful preparations may be valuable, such preparations may take a significant amount of time and other resources, which could be otherwise used for execution of the plans and achieving the set goals. Furthermore, many people involved in planning may not have sufficient knowledge and expertise to develop a correct plan. Even a seemingly simple goal of losing weight may be overcomplicated by health history, knowledge of diet and exercise routines, the availability of exercise equipment, time management, and other factors. On the other hand, offhand plans may be misguided and lead to incorrect results. Planning is further complicated when a person or organization tries to generate or execute multiple plans simultaneously. For example, multiple plans may compete for the same resources (e.g., person's time or finances).